Ad Prandium et Ultra
by ivorybloodsh3d
Summary: An Epic detailing the Adventures of Estada the Adventurer and his journey to find the Fountain of Youth


**Ad Prandium et Ultra **

_An Epic _

In 1670, conquest for the Fountain of Youth was a constant battle between Spain and England. Hundreds had tried all had failed until Estada the Adventurer was born. From his birth he had a knack for exploring. When he was ten, he discovered a buried temple in Rome. When he was seventeen, he found the City of Gold. The one thing he could not find was the fountain of youth. He tried and failed everytime.

He had almost given up, when, on his thirty-sixth birthday, he was given an anonymous gift. It was a map, a map to the fountain of youth. It journeyed through the most treacherous waters and the most violent seas; but, best of all, it was real.

Estada ran from his house to find the sponsor to his conquests, the Spanish King, Carlos II the bewitched. He went to the castle and climbed up the stairs. He passed through the surly guards and straight to the throne. He knelt down and begged, "King, Lord, Sir! I have been given a gift from the heavens. I have been given a map. The map it shows the way to the Fountain of Youth!"

The king merely mumbled, "hum" and stood up to pace, "So Estada, you tell me, you have a map to the most prized gift of any world?"

"Yes Lord!"

"And you wish to venture there."

"Yes"

"And what would you need to venture there, Estada?"

"One ship, plenty of food and drink, and a loyal crew of twenty men"

The king considered and agreed to the arrangement, "The Supplies will be ready at the port at twenty hours."

At twenty hours the king personally sent off the expedition. They sailed through the night and till three the next morning.

At 3:30 am the "loyal crew" drugged Estada. They took him out of his bed and set him on a small, lifeless island. They then re-boarded the ship and left him with a bottle of rum and a gun with a single shot, just as pirates would.

When Estada woke on the island, he took several minutes to realize his situation. When he did, he was astonished, _"How could his crew do this," _he though,_ "How!" _He sat on the beach for a single hour, stunned. Around noon, he stood up and searched for supplies. He found none. He set camp under a small bush, and he stayed there for a week. All he did on that week was sleep, piss, and ration his rum.

On the seventeenth hour of the eighth day, he was found starving by a privateer ship. The ship took in and they sailed for several days. During this period, he lay semi-conscious while the doctor and chef took care of him. When he was fully conscious, he asked for the captain. When he was told there was none, he was shocked, "I'll gladly takeover as captain. I know not of your journey, but I was marooned by my sailors on route to a great treasure." The doctor and first mate discussed and quickly agreed to the proposal.

Estada took control that night. The map to the fountain had been left on Estada's old ship, so he sailed based on his memory. He decided to sail towards Ireland. When they were just 100 nautical miles away, they were stopped by a blockade of British ships. The lead ship ordered Estada to dock in Bristol. They did and were quickly boarded and searched. The British captian interrogated Estada. Estada claimed, "Sir, I have been captain of this vessel for merely a week. I only know what I have been told, and what I have been told goes as such: this is a privateer ship whose captain was drowned. If my first mate is to give me our contract I would gladly show it to you.

"I see. And, if I were to have it, I would let you continue," replied the captain. He granted Estada permission to go with his first mate and get the contract. When the contract was given to him, the captain looked it over, "This seem quite real to me, and I see no issue with its detail. You may go ahead."

After Estada left port, the ship sailed past Ireland and through Viking territory. They sailed through peacefully until a storm struck with a brute force. The ship, now known to Estada as "Viva Mona", was lost in the storm. The Wind Pushed them every way imaginable, the water through them, and the sailors were rocked off the ship.

For three weeks the storm raged on. Once the storm passed, no one knew where they were. They had gone through all the maps, but none showed their surroundings. The crew was lost, plain and simple. They decided to sail east in hoped they would find their prize.

They had only sailed east for a few days when a cannon was shot nearby. The crew looked in a 360-degree circle. The first to spot the ship was the second mate. Though he saw it, he could only see its vague shadow. The mystery ship continued to fire, though all the shots missed. The lookout declared that the ship was friendly and did not know why they were being targeted. Estada heard the commotion and came onto the deck, "What is the matter?"

"Sir, there is a friendly ship, but it is firing at us! Here come see," cried the lookout.

Estada came up and borrowed the lookouts telescope, "My God! He declared, "That seems to be my old ship. They must have gotten lost in the storm as well!"

The crew sailed for their captains old ship and prepared the cannons. When they were close enough, Estada's ship shot and immediately struck the enemy mast. It fell and landed on the captain. The real battle had begun. The enemy ship was miserable, hitting only one out of over one hundred shots. They had easily surrendered within the hour. Estada and his crew boarded. They searched the ship and took all the supplies and valuables. Estada went to his old corridors. He went through his chest and found not only the map, but also a letter from the king addressed to the first mate. The note read,

"_Dear First Mate, _

_I would like to address the problem of Estada. He has stolen much glory from me, and, plain and simple, I want him dead. Do as you wish, but I would suggest marooning him at the first possible time. Once you dispose of him, go get the fountain and bring it to me._

_ Sincerely,_

_King Carlos II_ "

Estada was stunned. His king, his sponsor, had betrayed him. He was betrayed, BETRAYED! He walked out of the room and gathered the crew. They left the boat with supplies, treasure, the map, and the note. They sailed off towards the north east. They sailed uneventfully for weeks. On the third month of lost sailing, the lookout noticed what looked like the edge of the earth, "Oy! Captain! The world be dropping off ahead!"

"What do ya mean?"

"The edge of the world sir! LOOK!"

"No, that's not the end of the world, that's a whirlpool! A giant whirlpool! Hurry men! Man the stern! HURRY! Turn men, turn the ship to the west!"

The crew worked quickly to turn the ship. They turned it ninety-degrees, but the whirlpool was too large. The bow of the ship tipped over the edge of massive hole, "Brace men! Brace yourselves!"

The crew braced and continued to work to turn the ship. Meanwhile, the ship was riding down the sides of the funnel. The ship turned slowly, but it was not enough, "Speed up men! Speed up! Continue to turn! Hurry!" The crew got the vessel to travel at its maximum speed and was able to turn it ten degrees. The boat started to travel up the whirlpool. As the vessel continued at the same speed, it shot out of the hole. It flew through the air and was planning to come down on the side of the hull.

Estada noticed this and ordered the crew to grab what they could and move to the other side. The crew crawled and grabbed anything from gold to cannons. They slowly tilted it towards the other side. The boat landed awkwardly on the edge of the keel and started to tip over. The captain ran to the other side, grabbed a cannon, and dragged it back with him. The ship rocked and swayed and stopped with a splash on the bottom of the keel.

Sighing a breath of relief from the near disaster, they stood up and got back to their positions. They slowly started to sail away from the whirlpool.

A whole year went by. They were still lost and were close to giving up. Unknown to the crew and Estada, they were quite close to the fountain, and a final challenge, more menacing than all the rest, was ahead.

The ship was sailing casually when a dense fog appeared out of thin air. When Estada looked out the water, it was a murky green-brown color. The more they sailed into the fog, the colder it got. Suddenly, a burst of heat caused the fog to disperse, the sails to catch fire, and the ocean to boil. In front of them was a beast the size of Spain's navy. It was green-brown like the ocean; it had thirty tentacles, two massive arms, and one hundred eyes. The beast grabbed the ship by the port and flung it one hundred yards. The crew manned the cannons and started to fire at the beast. They shot into its eyes, mouth, arms, and tentacles; it was unaffected, "Halt fire!" Estada yelled, "The beast we fire at is the Kraken of Calypso. He cannot be killed but by a blade stabbed into his spine."

"Sir, we cannot get behind him, how will we lance him in his back?"

A voice came from behind, "One of us must go. I volunteer myself." The staff turned to see who had spoken and found it to be one of the men who swabbed the deck, "I will go, I volunteer. We all know I do nothing but clean and read. I am useless. I was in the English navy, I can fight."

"No, I cannot let you go." Proclaimed Estada, "My ship, my responsibility."

"Captain sir, no offense, but it is my fate." Replied the man, "I was betrayed by Britain and shunned by Spain. I make it my responsibility and my vengeance to sacrifice myself. I am too old for this anyway. I will kill him and die doing so. I only regret one thing, giving up on the love of my life. Goodbye." With that, he jumped over board with nothing but his clothes and an iron dagger"

"Nooooooo!" yelled Daniels.

"It is too late. I am sorry Daniels," comforted Esatda. The mystery sailor was gone in the water and the ship slowly sailed towards the Kraken as they took hit after hit of rocks and lumber.

They slowly made progress. They we struck several times, but were missed more often than not. Suddenly, an ear-piercing, blood-curdling scream came out of the monster. It collapsed on itself as if all the bones in its body had turn to goo. It fell backwards into the water and was not silent until the water stood still, "It is done then," Sighed Estada.

The green-brown water was replaced with a dark red color, the blood of the beast, and the man who saved them. Maybe, just maybe he was alive, but as the crew sailed towards where the body sunk, they found a floating mass. Some men brought a rope and tied it around the mast. They brought it to the edge of the boat and thied the other end around the mass. They then pulled the rope to see what was floating in the water. Unsurprisingly, it was the bruised body of the unnamed hero. All the crew knelt down around the body and took a moment of silence. They then released the corpse back into the ocean. They continued sailing in silence until the first mate started to mutter, "Name, didn't even know name. God why. Why. Dead just simply dead."

Estada came up to comfort Daniels and ordered the crew to pay no attention and push on.

That night, he gave a short remembrance speech and they had a small feast. While they slept, a massive title wave approached them. Around dawn, it struck and woke the whole ship. They all rushed together in the commons below deck and prayed. They felt themselves flying, and then they crashed. But it was not onto water. No, it was on to dry, solid land. They came out of the wreckage and found themselves on a large, tropical island. They then wandered off looking for food or just exploring.

They were permanently stranded, no doubt. They walked and paced, some cried and some gathered supplies. Suddenly, the lookout, who was walking the shore, called out, "Hurry! Come quick! I found a cave and their seems to be some sort of light coming from inside." The crew rushed over and Estada took the lead. He walked in and followed what seemed to be a path. They continued as the path sloped down. Finally, they reached the light. The brightest light ever gazed upon by mankind. And the place it emanated from was even more beautiful, the Fountain of Youth. The men rushed over, but were stopped in their tracks. Not by Estada, but by a figure that appeared before them. He was a seven-foot tall, godly white man, who shined brighter than the fountain. He commanded, "Halt! Only one may drink from this fountain, for only one is worthy. That would be you," he pointed to Estada, "Estada the Adventurer, come forth!"

Estada pointed to himself and questioned, "Me?"

"Yes you! Quickly now!" Estada came forward and was given a chalice made of emerald. "Drink and be healthy!"

"No," Estada proclaimed, "I will not. None here will. Drinking will only cause more greed, and we will be stranded here for eternity. We will be miserable in our filth for an infinite amount of ages. No! We must get home. Sir, god, angel, whoever you are, please grant us access back to our home."

"So be it!" said the figure. With a burst of blinding, white light, the crew was teleported back to Madrid. They were glad to be back after five years at sea, but they knew now of the king's treachery and betrayal and had to take care of it. They marched to the king's palace and Estada took them to the master of the guards, a loyal and close, friend of Estada's. He explained to him the king's plot. The guard was furious and ordered a revolt to take place in the cover of night.

At midnight, guards, militants, and civilians stormed the castle. With none but himself to fight with, the king was easily over powered, captured, and beheaded.

After the revolt, they had a massive feast for the honor of having Estada and the crew return safely. When the question of who was to be king came up, they decided on a vote. The winner was Estada by the unanimous majority. When all festivities were over, a long moment of silence was held for those who perished on Estada's journey.


End file.
